In our September episode of Ammonia Project Features, Pupuk Kaltim and Copenhagen Atomics joined us to explore their new, nuclear-powered ammonia project in Bontang, East Borneo. Cophenagen’s Thorium-fed, Onion Core® reactor design will be integrated with solid oxide electrolysers and an existing ammonia synthesis loop to produce more than one million tonnes per year of low-carbon ammonia.
KBR will integrate SolydEra’s solid oxide electrolysis technology into its proprietary K-GreeN® ammonia synthesis process thanks to a new MoU. K-GreeN® is the technology of choice for several significant ammonia mega-projects, including Avina Clean Hydrogen (Texas), and ACME Group (Oman).
Meet Pupuk Kaltim and Copenhagen Atomics to learn more about their nuclear-powered ammonia production project in Bontang, Indonesia. At full scale, the plant will feature 1 GW of solid oxide electrolysis capacity, 25 modular thorium molten salt reactors, and the production of one million tons of ammonia per year.
First Ammonia and the Port of Victoria have announced a partnership to produce renewable ammonia at the Port on Texas’ Gulf Coast. Electrolytic hydrogen feedstock will be produced via renewable energy, with the ammonia plant expected to be fully operational in 2025.
A consortium of Danish and Indonesian companies - including Topsoe, Copenhagen Atomics, Pupuk and Pertamina - will collaborate to develop a 1 million tonnes per year, nuclear-powered ammonia project for fertiliser production in Bontang, Indonesia. Copenhagen Atomics’ thorium molten salt reactors will power 1 GW of solid oxide electrolysis capacity.
World Energy GH2’s Project Nujio’Qonik has a new partner, with SK ecoplant announcing a $50 million investment. Bloom Energy has also announced it will provide solid oxide electrolysis cells for the initial phase of the project. On the other side of Newfoundland, Pattern Energy is developing a renewable hydrogen & ammonia export facility at the Port of Argentia, with exports to Europe to begin from 2025.
Solid oxide electrolysis has recently gained traction, and is fast becoming an attractive technology option for new ammonia production projects. This week we will explore a recent ISPT report, the scale-up of Topsoe’s manufacturing capacity, and several project announcements.
In our January episode of Ammonia Project Features, we explored the current commercial status of solid oxide electrolysis, and its potential to be integrated with ammonia production. Rick Beuttel (Bloom Energy) and Jakob Krummenacher (LSB industries) also discussed the utilization of the technology in a new decarbonization project at LSB’s ammonia plant in Pryor, Oklahoma.
Electrolysis-based ammonia production peaked worldwide around 1970, before the economies of scale and cheap gas feedstock led to its decline. With decarbonization and climate-neutral industrial processes now a critical priority, electrolysis-based ammonia production has re-emerged as a long-term solution. From a base of 10,000 tonnes per year worldwide production in 2020, as much as 100 million tonnes per year of electrolysis-based ammonia could be produced by the end of this decade, driven by a dramatic roll-out of renewable energy generation and installed electrolyzer capacity.
Meet LSB Industries and Bloom Energy, who are developing a dual-technology electrolysis project to feed ammonia production at LSB's existing plant in Oklahoma.